Changelog

This file records player-facing changes to G-Diffuser. Release candidates are test builds and may still contain known regressions.
This candidate packages the fixes developed after RC1 and adds diagnostics for the remaining Linux extraction report. It is intended for affected-hardware validation, not as the stable 1.0.2 release.

Fixed for testing

• The bundled controller database now includes the PowerA NSW Wired Controller mapping for USB vendor/product 20D6:A719 that the reporter generated and validated on Windows. The database is loaded before SDL classifies controllers connected at startup (#9).
• Settings resource loading now stops safely when a GUI texture cannot be created, targeting the null write at the crash address reported in issue #7. The About page also reports this candidate as 1.0.2-rc2 instead of the stale 1.0.0 label (#7).
• Direct3D 11 shader-cache hits now reconstruct the same shader-bytecode representation and vertex layout used by freshly compiled shaders, targeting the machine deformation that disappears when the cache is disabled (#24).
• Clean builds now generate the Expansion Kit compile-time headers and zero-initialized storage definitions through CMake instead of relying on workflow-only generated files (#23).
• Custom courses can be loaded, edited, saved, and reloaded repeatedly; the issue reporter confirmed the repaired beta behavior (#12).
• Create Machine save and reload now work in maintainer testing on Windows and Linux. The original reporter still needs to confirm the packaged candidate (#10).

Diagnostics

• Linux launcher failures now record whether chdir() or execv() failed, including the attempted path, error text, and errno. This turns the previously blank exit-code-127 report into actionable evidence without assuming its root cause (#25).
• Controller startup logs retain the loaded mapping count and each joystick's GUID, USB identifiers, and SDL game-controller classification.

Known issues and test focus

• Issue #25 has additional diagnostics, not a confirmed fix. The Batocera extraction failure has not been reproduced, and RC2 evidence is needed before changing packaging or compatibility requirements (#25).
• The issue #7 null guard, issue #17 ultrawide framebuffer repair, and issue #24 cached-shader repair still require confirmation on the systems that originally failed (#7, #17, #24).
• Trigger and left-stick rebinding are repaired locally but still need reporter confirmation from the packaged candidate (#16).
• Rumble remains planned for 1.1.0 and is not part of this candidate (#15).

Release-candidate test checklist

• Launch with the PowerA 20D6:A719 controller connected and confirm gamecontroller=yes in gdiffuser-run.log.
• Open Settings, inspect tooltips, press Escape, and verify that About shows 1.0.2-rc2.
• Retest 5120x1440 fullscreen on Direct3D 11.
• Run with the shader cache enabled and revisit the machines that previously deformed.
• On Linux, complete first-run extraction. If it fails, attach the new [launcher] line and gdiffuser-run.log to issue #25.
• Save and reload one custom course and one custom machine after restarting the application.